Monday, August 13, 2012

Haiti Day 7: Sunday

Here is the continued story on our missions trip to Haiti. . .

(July 29, 2012)

This morning I woke up quite sore. I can feel all the bruises I got from sleeping/bouncing on the tap-tap yesterday.

We met downstairs for breakfast at 7:00 a.m. I talked with Mr. A and Mr. L for awhile before my breakfast was ready (I had a cooked-to-order omelet and a banana.) We discussed homeschooling quite a bit. Once we finished our breakfast, we girls went upstairs to brush our teeth and grab our bags. We piled into the tap-tap and the van for the ride back to Port-Au-Prince. This ride was much bumpier. I think they took a different route to avoid traffic due to a festival in Port-Au-Prince.

During our drive, a couple of men jumped up onto the back of the van and the tap-tap. Thankfully they didn’t bother us and eventually jumped off. We also saw a truck that went partially over a cliff side. Yikes!


I don’t recommend doing this. J

We arrived at the airport and began unloading our bags. Before we went in, we said goodbye to Mr. L. L I’m going to miss him so much!

Going through the Port-Au-Prince airport was a bit stressful. We went through 3 different security checkpoints! We bought burgers and fries for lunch and sat together and visited for awhile.

I talked with Mr. A awhile before his flight. I told him that even if our church doesn’t come back, I would still love to come back to Haiti next summer. He seemed very excited about the idea and I hope it works out.

Saying goodbye to Mr. A made everyone quite sad. L He has truly become family to us this past week. I’m going to miss him!

I chatted and napped a bit while we waited for our flight.


Waiting in the Port-Au-Prince airport.
Photo Credit: Roma.

Finally our flight was called. We waited in line to board for a long time. They checked our tickets and passports 3 times!

The flight to Miami went well. I had a snack and did some journaling. When we landed we went through passport control, collected our bags, and went through customs. After losing a few people along the way, we reunited at security. We all made it through and went to our gate.

We had a bit of a layover, so everyone scattered to buy dinner and call home. Our family bought pizza. Part way through the meal we got a text from Mr. A! He had made it home safely and wanted to thank us and tell us how much he enjoyed getting to know us. We all miss him a lot.


Hanging out at the Miami airport.
Photo Credit: Roma.

As we boarded our flight to Detroit, my stomach started feeling upset. There was an empty seat between Ben and I, so I borrowed someone’s backpack and used it as a pillow. I slept for almost the entire flight.

When we landed, we all prayed together at the gate one last time. I have grown to love everyone on this team so much! I’m going to miss seeing everyone daily.

We had a happy reunion with several church members at the baggage area. Once again, we collected our luggage and went to the parking lot via a shuttle. Our van was full on the way home. We stopped at a Speedway to buy Slurpees. On the way home we had good conversation together, even though it was well after midnight.

We arrived back at the church around 2:30 a.m., the same time we had left one week prior. There were lots of goodbye hugs before we left. We made it home, showered and went to bed. I’m exhausted and know that I’ll sleep well tonight!


To be continued. . .



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